


cash me out

by blueaces



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, no one knows how to act, the markno is subtle but There
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 00:10:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16006193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueaces/pseuds/blueaces
Summary: Yukhei's local cashier is cute





	cash me out

**Author's Note:**

> In memory of the cute cashier girl I had twice at Walmart but never saw again. Gone but not forgotten.  
> Also just wanted to contribute to the tag after so long and write some cute hyuckhei even if it is a little fast paced

The end of the semester was closing in upon college students, and Yukhei was stressing. He groaned in frustration as his face hit the pile of notes spread out around him. Thermodynamics and organic chemistry were really kicking his ass. Mark tried helping as best as he could, but Yukhei's brain could only retain so much information before he actually exploded from an overload of benzene rings and energy laws.

Speaking of his brain, he felt his addled mind breaking down. Perhaps his neurons were finally short circuiting.

He knew just what he needed. Yukhei lifted his head up and yelled "MARK, I'M GOING TO THE STORE, WANT ANYTHING?" He was met with silence, meaning his roommate was already asleep. Given it was past 3am, and Mark always stayed out late with Jeno, he shouldn't have expected anything, but he had to make sure. Stretching before getting up and grabbing his shoes, Yukhei headed out of their dorm into the humid night.

The ten minute walk to the 24/7 grocery store helped relax his mind, even if briefly. It was great to get away from all the school work every once in a while. Yukhei knew not to push himself - he says as if he wasn’t getting food when the only living beings awake were owls and the ants crawling on the ground.

At this time of night, the empty parking lot gave off an eerie feeling, so Yukhei power walked into the store, startling the security guard who was dozing off in the entrance. Yukhei inclined his head in an apology before heading to aisle three where his favorite snack stood in all its packaged glory. Part two of his snack was in the refrigerator section, sweet and cold and just waiting to be seized by Yukhei’s hands. He was practically salivating at the thought of putting these two together again, a marriage held directly on his tongue.

Running over to check out so Yukhei could get out of there as quickly as possible, he placed his items on the only conveyor belt with a person behind it, barely sparing them a glance. The cashier raised an eyebrow at the selection but scanned them without a word.

“Your total is $6.09.” Still not looking up, Yukhei brought out his credit card, eager to swipe when the cashier spoke again. “Our card reader is broken so can you just…” A slender hand crosses into Yukhei’s line of vision and his eyes slowly follow up the golden skin on an arm which was attached to the most beautiful boy alive. The card clatters to the ground, and Yukhei is still staring, so mesmerized by the boy’s fiery hair brushing onto his eyebrows and how well the color complemented his skin tone. The cashier clears his throat, and Yukhei scrambles to pick up his card, almost dropping it again before handing it off. After Yukhei is given his bag, he scurries out, in a hurry to not make more of a fool of himself.

Almost tripping on the threshold, Yukhei burst into their apartment. “Mark, Mark, Mark, Mark, Mark Mark!” Barging into Mark’s room unceremoniously, he rips the covers off of Mark’s body and shakes his shoulders.

“Mark, wake up, you will not BELIEVE this. I just had the cutest boy as my cashier and I’ve decided I’m going to marry him.”

Peeling his eyes open, Mark wakes up to Yukhei’s face way too close for comfort. “What…” Bleary eyed, Mark looks over at his alarm clock on the nightstand. “Dude, it’s almost 4am, what the hell were you doing at a store at this time?”

“I was hungry, but that’s not the point! The boy! Cute! Future husband! You get me now?”

With the blankest, unfazed face, Mark pulls the covers back over him and rolls over. “Goodnight Yukhei.”

Typical Mark ignoring Yukhei and typical Mark not caring about cute boys if they weren’t someone named Lee Jeno. Yukhei huffed, his bangs moving with the air and shuffled out of Mark’s room, not too kindly banging the door shut. Once within the confines of his own room, he threw himself on the bed, headboard thudding against the wall and chipping off another strip of paint. He really needed to repaint it before move-out day, but that was not a current priority.

Ripping open the cream cheese frosting and bag of lime hot Cheetos, Yukhei dove in, grabbing two chips each time and dipping them into the cream cheese. Spicy and crunchy mixed with sugary and creamy, the coolness soothing the heat that would eventually come after consuming so many of them.

Mark always said he was weird for liking such combination, as did anyone else who saw him chomping down on them. But for Yukhei, it was a source of comfort, no matter how strange it might seem.

Sleep began to overtake him as he polished off the bag which is usually what happens even though the prime intention of eating was to keep him up, but Yukhei couldn’t care less since he got to eat anyways and just pushed the empty contents away from him and closed his eyes.

 

 

 

Every day at exactly 3am, Yukhei puts on his shoes and runs to the grocery store, the night air rushing past him. He’ll slow down to greet the sleeping security guard then bolts to aisle three for his chips and the refrigerated section for his cream cheese, the cool air causing goosebumps to arise. Then he gets goosebumps for an entirely different reason when he finally, _finally_ , comes up to the register, the same boy as the first day always there. The cashier hasn’t spoken a word towards Yukhei since the initial encounter, but he doesn’t mind one bit, content to ogling with hearts in his eyes as he hands his card over. Yukhei would buy hundreds of credit cards if it meant passing them over to cashier boy each time. Screw student loans and debt. He was drowning in it anyways, he might as well make the best of it.

Except Yukhei didn’t need his custom-made combo every day. It was only for special occasions, special being when he was overloaded with assignments and essays and on the verge of splitting his head open against a table. So, whenever Yukhei came back at ass o’clock, he would throw the chip bags in the far right cabinet, which was empty save for a couple spare plates and cups and the cream cheese behind numerous small jugs of banana milk.

This goes unnoticed by Mark until he goes looking for his special bowl after weeks of eating in Jeno’s room, something about it holding his food “just like Jeno’s bowl does.” Tens of bags spill out, the loud crackling of aluminum reverberating throughout their dorm as they hit the ground and surround Mark’s bare feet.

“Yukhei, what the _fuck_.”

Mark grabs a fistful of Cheetos and flings them at Yukhei lounging on the couch, who had chosen to ignore the racket in favor of staring at isomers of hexane but glances up in time to get smacked directly in the face with multiple bags.

“I knew you had a problem, but I didn’t know it was this bad.”

Yukhei sits up to defend himself, eye slightly throbbing from where a bag poked him. “It’s not a problem, and it’s not my fault your taste buds haven’t evolved enough to appreciate my masterpiece.”

“If my taste buds were like yours, natural selection would have already taken me in its sweet grasp. Now do I want to open the fridge to find just as many containers of frosting or are you going to tell me why there is even this amount in the first place?” Mark makes a move towards the fridge, but Yukhei beats him to it, arms spread out over the fridge in a protective stance.

In a frenzied state that resembles an over-caffeinated child, Yukhei recounts the night he first went out, complaining about how he already told Mark this, but he had better things to do like sleep, which Mark exasperatedly rolls his eyes at.

“You know, normal people just talk to their crushes.”

“That is NOT an option here, my tongue gets all tied up like he’s seriously that gorgeous, Mark.”

Staring at Yukhei for a second before pushing past and grabbing one of his banana milks out of the fridge, Mark says something so utterly _Mark_ that it makes Yukhei’s lizard brain pause for a second. “Let your heart do the talking since your head is so clogged up with infatuation that it renders you even more inarticulate than usual. Take a fucking sip, babe.” And he then proceeds to drink his milk and leaves Yukhei contemplating in the kitchen like a fool, arms still sprawled across the fridge door.

 

 

 

“You could just do self check-out.”

Yukhei is back in front of cashier boy, having prepared himself to speak, but not for cashier boy to have spoken before Yukhei did. Yukhei’s mouth moves before his caught off-guard brain can catch up. “Yeah, but the machines aren’t as cute as you”

Cashier boy blinks. “For all you know I could be a robot.”

“A robot with nothing better to do than work the graveyard shift at a grocery store.”

“Gotta make that money for world domination somehow.” Yukhei lets out one of his laughs, the incredibly loud, high pitched ones and promptly clamps his hand over his mouth, eyes wide. Cashier boy is still stone faced, seemingly unfazed and passes over his bag of items. Embarrassment rarely fills Yukhei’s stomach, but it does now, and he can barely grasp the plastic in his hands.

Dejectedly, Yukhei makes his way out, almost by the exit when he hears a shout. “Don’t hide your laugh!” Yukhei abruptly turns to see cashier boy standing on his shaky stool, cupping his hands around his mouth. “And my name is Haechan!”

Yukhei smiles and shoots a thumbs up (Yukhei is mentally smacking himself) before turning around and running right into the post between the double set of doors. A cackle resounds through the store and Yukhei wants to go home with his throbbing head and mortification.

As Yukhei was currently suffering through his humiliation and pain, the decision to eat his snack didn’t come as a surprise. Neither did him falling asleep right afterwards, but Yukhei was a man of habit.

Yukhei dreams about a certain cute robot boy being over four hundred meters tall and giggling manically as he destroys buildings left and right. It’s also worth mentioning that Haechan is holding Yukhei in his fist carelessly, the threat of falling to his imminent death and splattering all over the pavement endlessly there.

He should really stop eating processed food right before bed.

 

 

 

Mark invited him to a party, courtesy of Jeno’s room and roommate. They didn’t exactly do parties as they were two big science dorks who stayed in to memorize equations all day. To say the least, Yukhei was intrigued and wanted a break before his vision clouded up even further with numbers and chemical bonds.

Except it was more a rather large gathering, less drinking and more drinking games that involved virgin replacements and removing articles of clothing. Yukhei entering the dorm and seeing cashier boy wearing only a headband and a pair of shorts left Yukhei wanting to walk back out. Cheeks aflame, he grabbed Mark who was cozying it up with Jeno near the cooler, dragging him by the wrist to a corner as far as a college dorm room would let him go.

Discreetly pointing to the shirtless boy, Yukhei brought up his hand to cover his mouth. “Dude, that’s cashier boy!”

Mark, not so discreetly, peers over Yukhei’s shoulders and rather loudly states, “No, that’s Donghyuck.” Frantically, Yukhei tries shushing Mark, slapping a hand over his mouth, but it’s too late. Said boy named Donghyuck turns at the sound of his name, waving when he sees Mark and eyes widening when he sees Yukhei.

The next thing Yukhei knows, Haechan (Donghyuck?) is walking over to them, and Yukhei goes into a fairly gay panic. He’s grasping so hard onto Mark’s wrist that he yelps in pain and wriggles out of Yukhei’s hold in a matter of seconds, dashing back over to Jeno who was watching with an inquisitive look. In that moment, Yukhei hates Mark more than that one time Yukhei lost the key to the dorm and slept out in the hallway because _someone_ conveniently forgot to tell Yukhei that he was spending the night over at Jeno’s.

The smell of strawberries and salt brings Yukhei back to the half-naked boy now in front of him. A glance at his lean body causes a strange gurgling noise to escape Yukhei’s mouth and he quickly averts his gaze, choosing to stare at the boy’s exposed forehead as he speaks. _Glorious._

“So _Donghyuck,_ if that’s your real name.”

The boy just smiles, at ease. “Haechan is a nickname I occasionally give out. But everyone calls me Donghyuck. Hyuck for short.”

Yukhei nods and throws a questioning glance at his menace of a roommate. “Mark…?”

With a roll of his eyes, Donghyuck smacks his lips together in annoyance. “I have the displeasure of being Jeno’s roommate. Mark’s roommate by association.” An eyebrow is quirked in Yukhei’s direction. “You?”

“Mark is my actual assigned roommate, but as you can see-” They both turn in the direction of Mark and Jeno, who were so obviously flirting with each other, hands always grazing over the others, that it physically hurt to watch “-he likes spending time elsewhere.”

At that moment, cotton candy pink hair appeared in Yukhei’s line of sight, the owner of such colored hair draping his arm enthusiastically around Donghyuck’s shoulders.

“Hyuck, come back to the game already! I need you for moral support when Jaehyun unveils the abs I just _know_ are hiding underneath that white tank top of his.”

“God, Nana, could you thirst any less?”

“No, now let’s goooo.” Donghyuck shoots an apologetic glance at Yukhei before being tugged away by Nana. He watches them return to the circle, the boys in various stages of undressing rejoicing at Donghyuck’s arrival. The only one in a white tank is the next to remove his shirt, ears immediately burning red. Whoops and hollers echo around, and Donghyuck is shaking a dazzled Nana as they cheer as well. The urge to jump in next to Donghyuck presents itself, the thought of potential knee brushes against each other sending a shiver up Yukhei's spine, except-

This isn’t his type of scene, and the uncomfortable feeling of taking off his clothes doesn’t sit well with him. It’s not like Yukhei is self-conscious about his body, he rather likes himself. The fact of the matter is, no one besides his brother had ever seen him shirtless, only because they had rounded the corner at the same time and ended up spilling hot tea all over each other, and Yukhei would like to keep it that way for as long as he can.

Without alerting anyone to his presence and soon absence, Yukhei slips out of the dorm and slinks back to his and Mark’s. Changing into more relaxed clothing, he jumps onto his bed, headboard striking as usual. As he sinks into the mattress, a matching sinking notion settles into his stomach when he realizes in complete Yukhei fashion and an absolute haze of fascination, courtesy of a neon pink headband and eyes of sweet maple, he had forgotten to give his name to Donghyuck. Yukhei promptly grabs one of his pillows, shoving his face into it and screams.

 

 

 

Yukhei felt like his last chance was coming to a close. With the end of the semester around the corner, his classes had him nose deep in every book he could find. Yukhei barely noticed time going by, and he had been missing the 3am appointments by either falling asleep before the allotted time or peeling his eyes away from his notes to see the clock blinking _5:30_ back up at him.

A knock at the door reverberates around the still dorm, leaving Yukhei curious. It’s past 10pm and Mark was out with Jeno again doing who knows what. And it’s not like Yukhei had other friends banging down the door to hang with him. Yukhei slouches over to the door and opens it without looking through the peephole. Big mistake.

“Can I crash here? Someone got the guts to fess up, and I walked in on Jeno and Mark making out. Hurray, but also gross, not on the living room couch where anyone can walk in and see them. And surely not in front of _my_ precious eyes.” Donghyuck is standing outside in the hallway, sporting a torn Michael Jackson t-shirt and blue plaid flannel.  Yukhei’s mouth is suddenly dry and he can barely utter a “ _yeah, sure, come in, haha,”_ Donghyuck brushing past him to step inside.

He’s looking about their rather bare dorm, save for the lone Choi Minho poster that Mark had taped on the back of the door, (“ _I want that to be the last thing I see before I go to classes okay? His wink gets me through the day.” “Mark, that’s gay.” “And what about it?”)_ and Yukhei feels a tad sheepish about the lack of character it holds in comparison to Jeno’s and Hyuck’s room.

“So Mr. Yukhei, what were you doing on this fine Friday night?”  Yukhei opens his mouth, puzzled. “Mark told me.” _Ah._ Mark's big mouth was actually useful for once, and the weight on his shoulders is lessened.

“Just… you know… some things…” Donghyuck gives him a look, one that says he knew exactly what Yukhei was doing, so Yukhei spills. “Studying.”

Donghyuck snorts and begins to walk to his bedroom, light pouring out from the ajar door into the hallway. “Nerd. Mark mentioned that’s all you both do around here.” Donghyuck plops down on his bed, Yukhei tentatively sitting next to him. Then Yukhei remembers the snack sitting on his nightstand and his eyes glance at it quickly, thinking of a way to inconspicuously hide them. But Donghyuck catches his glimpse and follows in its direction, recognition crossing his face.

“Can I try it? I’d like to see what kept you coming in so late.” Yukhei ignores the resounding _you_ that materializes in the forefront of his mind and snatches up the plate he decided to use for once and thanks whatever god it looks presentable. Donghyuck picks a particularly large Cheeto, swirling it around the frosting, and Yukhei thinks it looks similar to the curve of Donghyuck’s hair around his ear. The crisp noise of teeth grinding down on chip usually brings bliss, but apprehension builds up in his fingertips, twitching to pick at the stray ends of his shorts.

He refrains from unraveling the entirety of his clothes and is able to squeak out, “What do you think?”

“It’s not so strange, you know. It kinda works, the sweet playing with the savory.” Donghyuck licks his fingers, ridding them of the red powder. “I like it.”

Yukhei didn’t realize he was holding in his breathe until Donghyuck’s confirmation, relief racing through his body. “I’m really glad you like it. It’s a bit absurd, but the snack holds a special place in my heart, I guess because it’s always there for me when I need it.”

Donghyuck is quiet and Yukhei thinks he might’ve shared too much again, something he was prone to doing. The flare of pain near his temple signals the headache reserved for long nights of studying followed by equally long days of classes, and Yukhei hates when his mind goes into overdrive because then the thought process is scrambled and becomes unreliable and everything seems useless.

The movement of Donghyuck crawling over and stopping directly in front of Yukhei brings his gaze back up to meet Donghyuck’s. “Stop thinking so much, I can hear the gears turning from here.” Donghyuck reaches out, smoothing the crease between Yukhei’s brow, letting his hand trace his way down Yukhei’s face, past his nose, lingering on his cupid’s bow, ghosting his jaw, and eventually resting above where his heart should reside. “By chance, is there any more room for me here?” 

Yukhei’s breathe hitches and gives the barest hint of a nod, but it’s all Donghyuck needs to get the green light and lean over to kiss him. It’s slow, but his lips are like fire, from the chips and from Donghyuck’s essence. The graze of Donghyuck’s teeth on his bottom lip jolts Yukhei back, causing the headboard to aggressively bang against the wall once again, this time leaving a dent.

They stare at the headboard as it shakes to a stop, turning to meet each other’s gaze and dissolve into little giggles, Yukhei’s cutting through the air above Donghyuck’s.

“I was waiting to hear that laugh again.” Donghyuck grabs Yukhei’s hand, guiding him down to lay with him, his head coming to a rest on Yukhei’s chest. A soft _cute_ escapes Donghyuck’s lips, and they sigh in unison as Yukhei gently threads his fingers through Donghyuck’s hair. When his breathing evens out, Yukhei allows the smile he had been holding back to creep up on his face. It’s a reality that Yukhei could have only ever dreamed of, especially so soon after first speaking.

And with the most beautiful boy tucked underneath his arm, Yukhei thinks he can die happy.

 

 

 

Yukhei’s last exam kept him away from Donghyuck, but that didn’t stop the strings of texts full of encouragement and the occasional disguised insult. With Donghyuck going to night classes, his shift, and then one morning class, he spent most of the day sleeping, leaving the short span of a weekend to be with each other. They were supposed to meet up for a MJ karaoke session the day after both of their finals, but he wanted to see Donghyuck as soon as possible. And maybe he also wanted to snatch up his combo as a reward for all the suffering.

Yukhei goes the long way around all the check-out aisles in order to avoid getting seen by Donghyuck yet he comes back up to the front to Donghyuck already waiting with his lips upturned, one hand curled up beneath his chin, the other already outstretched for Yukhei’s credit card.

“Wong, you’re not as silent as you think you are. And I saw your tall ass over all the shelves.” Yukhei shouldn’t have expected any less and sighs when Donghyuck happily plucks the card out of his hands.

“Is this all a part of your robot plan to ascend to power? Make the unsuspecting boy fall for you, then steal his money?”

The smile grows on Donghyuck’s face as he singsongs “ _maybeeee!”_ and swipes the card. Yukhei goes behind the counter to where Donghyuck is sitting on his stool, squeezing himself in between Donghyuck’s lean legs. Arms encircle his back, pulling him closer so Yukhei can see his own smile in the reflection of Donghyuck’s eyes. Yukhei moves his own arms around Donghyuck but comes back with the bag of Hot Cheetos clasped in his hands instead. Donghyuck’s arms grip on tighter, making it unable to escape unless Yukhei put up a fight, and plants a peck on his cheek, lips faintly dragging across his skin as Donghyuck spoke.

“Care to share?”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes that is a combo made by yours truly and it is delicious and also Yukhei is Mexican
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/lunitataeil)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/blueaces)


End file.
